West Yorkshire hospital trust receives formal complaints from more than 1,500 patients in a year

Pinderfields Hospital is run by Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust.

Published:09:43Friday 16 September 2016

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A West Yorkshire hospital trust received the second highest number of complaints in the country last year.

New figures released by NHS Digital show that Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust received around 1,500 written complaints in 2015/16, of which around two-thirds were upheld or partially upheld.

Meanwhile overall NHS complaints have risen more in Yorkshire than anywhere else in the country in the past year.

The statistics show a 6.3 per cent increase in complaints, with 1,173 more grievances being lodged in 2015/16 than the year previous, in contrast with a 4.2 per cent national decrease.

The main proportion of Yorkshire’s complaints increase related to hospital and community services, which received almost 10 per cent more criticism as national levels dropped.

Paula Sherriff, Dewsbury MP and member of the health select committee, said she was “extremely concerned” about the high level of complaints at Mid Yorkshire, which runs hospitals in Wakefield, Pontefract and Dewsbury.

She said: “We understand the tremendous pressures that our local hospitals are under given the severity of NHS cuts from central Government but patient safety should never be compromised.”

The main areas of complaint in Yorkshire were around patient care, communication and the behaviour of staff.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, the region’s largest trust, recorded 722 complaints in 2015/16, while the Yorkshire Ambulance Service had 1,584.

David Melia, director of nursing and quality at Mid Yorkshire, said: “It’s disappointing to see the number of our complaints increasing but we do take them all very seriously and ensure we investigate them to thoroughly understand individual situations, responding to each in the appropriate way.”